Gasoline-soaked man stops traffic in downtown Rochester

Rochester firefighters and police stand by as a Frisbie Memorial Hospital paramedic evaluates a man who soaked himself in gasoline in a major downtown intersection late Monday morning. (Paul Dolnier Photo)

ROCHESTER - A man was taken to the hospital after he wrote notes all over his body and doused himself with gasoline at a major downtown intersection Monday morning.

Police, firefighters and emergency personnel responded around 11:30 a.m. after the man appeared to have covered himself in gasoline and walked into the intersection of South Main Street and Columbus Avenue, according to Fire Capt. Mark Avery.

Avery said the man did not ignite himself.

"When we got there, police pretty much had him face down," Avery said.?"He was wet, so we assumed it was gasoline," Avery said, adding officials removed the man's shirt as a precaution.

Avery said paramedics took the man, whose identity has not been released, to Frisbie Memorial Hospital for further treatment and evaluation.